Monthly Archives: September 2011

When you think about it, there are perhaps hundreds of novelists and short story writers whose work you might want to read, but shockingly few great essayists. For me, that short list would include Russell Baker (my idol), David Sedaris, … Continue reading →

In one of my favorite poems, “Wild Geese,” Mary Oliver concludes: “Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,/ the world offers itself to your imagination,/ calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –/ over and over announcing … Continue reading →

The events of September 11th reminded us, as tragedies often do, that you never know how long you have. So, carpe diem. That’s the good news: we can appreciate our lives more fully if we savor each day as though … Continue reading →

Sometimes when we are fighting a war in another country (which unfortunately we’ve been doing for years now), we forget that some people in that country AREN’T our enemies. We hear the news about roadside bombs in foreign lands, and … Continue reading →

September 11th, 2001: Particularly if you lived on the East Coast near New York City or Washington, DC, you remember that day. It was a clear day: perfectly clear, impossibly clear, painfully clear. Not a cloud in the sky. You … Continue reading →

One of my favorite quotes is, “A man with a hammer sees everything as a nail.” I like how this sentence captures an important truth: our perspective shapes our actions. In other words, our mindset affects how we behave. In … Continue reading →

Having spent the better part of the afternoon writing half a page about incomplete sentences (for a book I’m writing on literacy instruction), it occurred to me that the most apt selection for today’s post would be IF ON A … Continue reading →

“Go big or go home!” I think I first heard this expression from my adventurous younger sister, who has traveled widely, often in search of larger waves. I was trying to figure out how to explain my fondness for JOHN … Continue reading →

Even though we’re watching the last few days of summer slip by, it’s not too late to gulp down a funny mystery. If you haven’t indulged in THE SPELLMAN FILES by Lisa Lutz, for example, you should start there. Picture … Continue reading →

Anyone who has seen NYC Mayor Bloomberg “speak Spanish” in a press conference has probably noticed that he appears to be pronouncing the words with somewhat of a New York accent and possibly with a gun pressed to his back. … Continue reading →